Animation graduate's stylistic short wins at film festival

The short animation The Drowning, which took nearly 900 hours to create, focuses on addiction and the subsequent mental health issues that envelop those in our support system.

Inspired by Alberto Mielgo’s paint-like graphics that were recently popularised in franchises like Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse (2018) and Love, Death and Robots (2019), Shaun focused on utilising motion capture technology to enact his final major project which looked at whether the technology could provide emotional support for a stylistic design.

Shaun, a graduate from our BA Animation programme, said: "I didn’t think that I would ever be able to get nominated for my own film, especially my first one.”

“I was a bit in shock. I did not think for a second that I would win, so I hadn’t even prepared a speech.”

BA Post-Production and VFX lecturer James Russell said: "I am really pleased to see the successes Shaun is having with his graduation film. It was a privilege to be a small part in helping him realise his ambitious plan and the outcome is a testament to his hard work and talent. Congratulations on a well deserved win!”

Gary Rogers, founder of the Stratford on Avon Film Festival, said: “As a team of professional filmmakers and educators we like to prioritise young filmmakers' work and recognise the importance of providing a platform for their films to reach a wider audience.

“Mental Health can be a tricky and sensitive area to portray on film and Shaun captured the essence of how it feels to be in such a position and how it can affect those around us in a beautiful yet dark visual style of animation.

“It really was a pleasure to award Shaun 'Best Animation' at our 2024 Awards ceremony and hope it helps to inspire Shaun along with the other category winners to carry on and expand on their storytelling journey.”

Shaun is currently looking for work in the world of post production and has begun pre-production on another short film in collaboration with ALT Studios. The Drowning will either be available for free on the ALT Studios’ YouTube page later this year or early next year.